Orthopedic braces are often used to provide support to injured limbs. For example, ankle braces, knee braces and wrist braces are used when a bone is fractured or a ligament is sprained, or under conditions of arthritis or other injuries to aid a patient's recovery by supporting the injured area until it heals and regains strength. Patient comfort is an important consideration in designing and applying these braces, and most braces include cushioning that provides comfort for a user wearing the brace. This cushioning is usually in the form of a foam pad or other compressible material lining the inside of the brace and contacting the patient's skin. In addition to foam pads, some braces also include inflatable components to provide comfort and allow a user to adjust the level of compression provided by the brace. An external pump or valve is provided to allow the user to increase or decrease the amount of fluid in the inflatable component and thereby adjust the amount of compression provided by the brace.
While the use of inflatable components gives the user some control over compression, these cells often require an external pump in order to inflate and deflate the brace pads. If the pump is connected to the brace, it can be a bulky extra component on the outside of the brace, which can impair the wearability of the brace. If the pump is detachable from the brace, it may be inconvenient for the user to carry around so that he or she can inflate or deflate the brace, and the pump may be lost when it is not connected to the brace.
In many braces, a single pump and valve inflates or deflates the inflatable cells of the brace all to an equal pressure which does not allow a user to independently control the pressures in different inflatable cells in a brace. If a user desires more compression in one area and less in another, such a brace is unable to provide the customized compression desired by the user. In other braces, each inflatable cell of the brace has its own port that allows the user to selectively inflate or deflate individual cells. In these braces, multiple valves are provided with either multiple pumps connected to the valves or a single pump that is moved from valve to valve as needed to independently control the inflation and deflation of the corresponding individual cells. The pumps provided, such as hand-pump bulbs, are inconvenient to handle and can be easily lost if detached from the brace.